March meeting and February meeting notes

Announcement of the next meeting (Thanks Renuka):
Date and Time: Sunday, March 08, 2009; 10:30 am
Venue: Empress Garden
Topics:
1. Morality in a changing world
2. Two things I would change in the Literature Club, Pune

THE FEBRUARY MEET
The February meeting had two very interesting topics for discussion. The first was word portraits of characters. Mr. Rajagopalan started the session with the reading of a line from “An Outline History of English Literature” by William Henry Hudson. He went on to “speak his heart” on Dickens. He is obviously very passionate about this author. He also dwelled on the difference between caricature and portrayal of characters. He recapitulated the caricature of Pickwick (Dickens), Bertie Wooster (PG Wodehouse) and “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by George Elliott. He concluded with a recommendation - “Poetics” by Aristotle. Those who were absent missed a gem of a discourse!

Others who spoke on this topic were Kusum and Vasu, who spoke on the character Atticus Finch from “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee.

The second topic was “Redeeming Features in a Negative Character”. Shama spoke about Jeffrey Archer and described his misdemeanors and redeeming characters. Prateek spoke about the redeeming features of Darth Vader and Ravan. Mr. Rajagopalan spoke about the redeeming features of Karan (from the Mahabharat) and Ravan. Kusum spoke about reform, about “The Mayor of Casterbridge” and about “Crime and Punishment”. Brig. Inamdar spoke about the redeeming features of Hitler.

Other things that were discussed included Othello, and “Small is Beautiful” by Schumacher.